The objective of the proposed Neuroscience Training Program in the Department of Anatomy and Physiology is to expand the existing successful predoctoral training program in physiology at Meharry Medical College. During the five-year period of the grant, the Department of Anatomy and Physiology proposes to aggressively recruit, select and financially support a total of eight talented students per year. Meharry has a long history of providing educational opportunities for students from under-represented minority populations. In fact, in its relatively short history in graduate education, Meharry has a notable record of graduating a disproportionately large proportion of the nation's output of minority Ph.D.'s in those biological sciences represented in our campus. The proposed training program will extend this tradition. The ultimate goal of this project is to assist in the national effort to increase the number of African Americans and other under-represented minorities teaching and performing research in neuroscience. To accomplish such a goal the primary objective of this project is to obtain and provide funding to support the stipends and educational expenses of eight such individuals who will be trained in the laboratories of currently funded faculty in the Department of Anatomy and Physiology at Meharry Medical College. The specific short term objectives of this proposal are: (1) To increase the enrollment in the Department's Ph.D. program to a steady state of 24 students by FY 2000 and beyond. (2) To increase the Department's output of neuroscience Ph.D.'s to an average of four per year by FY 1999 and beyond. A long term objective is: (3) To increase the numbers of African American neuroscience Ph.D.'s who hold tenure positions in academic institutions.